A Hymn of Maṇḍala 10
Rigveda X.117 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 10 of the Rigveda, one of the 1,028 hymns organized within the ten books of the oldest Veda. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in Vedic Sanskrit and preserved through oral transmission across millennia.
This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
Truly, the gods gave not hunger alone as death’s sharp edge, for many shapes of ending come even upon him who is full-fed.
The store of the giver doth not fail, but he who giveth not shall find none to show him mercy.
When a man, weak and worn, draweth near in want of bread, and he that hath plenty hardeneth his heart— though once they were close as kin—
that man too shall look for kindness and find it not.
Blessed is he who bestoweth on the wanderer, gaunt with hunger, who calleth out in need.
He that heareth his plea and giveth, maketh a fellow of him henceforth.
He is no true fellow who shareth not his meat with him beside him.
Though he walk in company, yet is he no companion.
Let a man turn from such a house; it is no home.
Better to find a stranger whose hand is open.
Let the strong give unto the needy, and set his gaze far down the road ahead— for wealth roll’th like wheels of the wain, rising up to this man, and anon to that.
The fool, lacking wisdom, hath food in vain.
Mark my word: it becometh a death-blade unto him.
He groweth not in fellowship, nor in friendship.
Who eateth alone draweth only woe.
It is through tilling the earth that the plough-feedeth man.
It is by walking that one wrappeth the path with his steps.
The tongue that speaketh is more meet to win than silence, and the friend who giveth is worth more than one who will not.
The one-footed hath gone farther than the two-footed; the two-footed overtaketh the three-footed in his age.
The four-footed heedeth the cry of man,
and keepeth watch o’er the fivefold herd.
Though two hands be alike, their works are not the same.
Though two cows come from one dam, their milk differeth.
The feats of twins are not as one.
Nor do two kindred men give in like measure.
Colophon
This hymn is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated independently from the Sanskrit. Reference translations consulted during original translation are to be documented during audit.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: ṛgveda X.117
Sanskrit source text from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
na vā u devāḥ kṣudham id vadhaṁ dadur utāśitam upa gacchanti mṛtyavaḥ |
uto rayiḥ pṛṇato nopa dasyaty utāpṛṇan marḍitāraṁ na vindate || 1 ||
ya ādhrāya cakamānāya pitvo 'nnavān san raphitāyopajagmuṣe |
sthiram manaḥ kṛṇute sevate puroto cit sa marḍitāraṁ na vindate || 2 ||
sa id bhojo yo gṛhave dadāty annakāmāya carate kṛśāya |
aram asmai bhavati yāmahūtā utāparīṣu kṛṇute sakhāyam || 3 ||
na sa sakhā yo na dadāti sakhye sacābhuve sacamānāya pitvaḥ |
apāsmāt preyān na tad oko asti pṛṇantam anyam araṇaṁ cid icchet || 4 ||
pṛṇīyād in nādhamānāya tavyān drāghīyāṁsam anu paśyeta panthām |
o hi vartante rathyeva cakrānyam-anyam upa tiṣṭhanta rāyaḥ || 5 ||
mogham annaṁ vindate apracetāḥ satyam bravīmi vadha it sa tasya |
nāryamaṇam puṣyati no sakhāyaṁ kevalāgho bhavati kevalādī || 6 ||
kṛṣann it phāla āśitaṁ kṛṇoti yann adhvānam apa vṛṅkte caritraiḥ |
vadan brahmāvadato vanīyān pṛṇann āpir apṛṇantam abhi ṣyāt || 7 ||
ekapād bhūyo dvipado vi cakrame dvipāt tripādam abhy eti paścāt |
catuṣpād eti dvipadām abhisvare sampaśyan paṅktīr upatiṣṭhamānaḥ || 8 ||
samau cid dhastau na samaṁ viviṣṭaḥ sammātarā cin na samaṁ duhāte |
yamayoś cin na samā vīryāṇi jñātī cit santau na samam pṛṇītaḥ || 9 ||
Source Colophon
Sanskrit text of the Rigveda, Śākala recension. The standard scholarly edition is the Bombay Oriental (Vishva Bandhu, 5 vols., 1963–66). IAST transliteration available from GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages) and Vedaweb (University of Cologne). Both sources are open access. IAST transliteration from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
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